The Wrong Person Was Transported to the Horrific Lost Village

"So this is the old inn. As you can see, the first floor's a pub-style space, and the rooms are above us," she said, showing us into the rustic building.

"I love the smell in here, Bess. You keep the place well. I can hardly wait for some scary nights hunkering down in here with you girls."

Haunting started clapping excitedly. "Yeah! I can't wait to monster-watch with everyone. It's going to be so spooky! I'm so going to die... Of excitement, I mean."

"You're definitely never boring, Haunting," I said, mildly amused.

The building had what I would call an "Irish pub" feel to it. The air was thick with the scent of stale ale and musty wood, and the flickering candles on the rough-hewn tables cast eerie shadows on the walls.

That candlelight had a real way of making things look more ominous than they were. The space looked like the designers had purposefully tried to make it look medieval, with heavy wooden beams supporting the low ceiling and rough wood walls making you feel like you went back in time. The tavern was notably furnished, with many booths and what looked like a fully stocked bar. Or maybe all the bottles behind the bar were just for decoration. We could ask Bessie later, but I had a feeling people needed their booze in these parts... That said, Bessie hadn't said anything about people coming here...

I couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding. I had never been in a tavern so quiet, and also, we were in a cursed village. It was actually stupid to think that things could be so simple.

"Hey, Haunting, what do you think? How many secrets would you guess this place is hiding?"

Haunting moaned--actually moaned--with her eyes rolling into the back of her head. "So much, Mari," she said. "I bet this place is crawling with tons of super Supernaturo ghosts. God, they probably actively whisper into the foolish occupant's ears every night."

Bessie whimpered. "Please don't say that. I've lived here for years, and we haven't had anything you wouldn't encounter in a regular house."

Ryza raised a brow as she crossed her arm. "That... actually doesn't tell us anything about the activity we could expect here. Are there actually ghosts in here? Is Haunting Tone's bet right on the money?"

"I mean, yes, I suppose," Bessie said, trying to play it off.

The straight admission made me, Ryza, and Hari go wide-eyed, while Anabelle nodded. Haunting though, she--

"I knew it! Squeeee! Never underestimate the instincts of a paranormal savant!" She turned on her heels. "Mari! Let's go ghost hunting! Let's capture a ghost and interrogate it! Maybe we'll find an incredible clue no one else has--ack, where's my stuff?!"

I put my hands on the frantic Haunting's shoulders. "Settle down there, girl. Bessie, could you elaborate, please? Are there ghosts here? Like actually inside of here?"

"Well, yes. You'll sometimes see things out of the corner of your eyes. Sometimes you'll look in a reflection and see something behind you--"

Haunting's screech-like squeal was distracting enough to make everyone look at her.

"Yeesh, even my bad ear heard that," Ryza said, wincing. 

"Sorry," Haunting said, pulling back. "It's just so Supernaturo; I just couldn't hold back."

"Right... Hey, Mari, is that screech how you kept monsters off your back?"

I chuckled. "Haven't gotten to test that theory yet, and honestly, I don't want to. Bessie, please, continue."

Bessie chuckled nervously. "Well, that's all for the ghosts. The only other thing is that you can have your room totally sealed, and a Goal will still somehow appear."

All the newcomers nodded slowly as if we all simultaneously remembered Lorio mentioning that Goals appeared in people's houses.

I raised a hand. "How does that work exactly? The Goals, I mean."

"Did Lorio not thoroughly explain it?" Bessie chuckled as she shook her head. "He must have been tired. So, Personal Goals will appear in your room, usually on folded cards. They're a little spooky. They will look like blank cards except for everyone but the person they're meant for. If the owner wants to show someone the Goal, they'll become visible--"

"Mariiii, Magic Items," Haunting squeal-whispered.

"Haunting, shh."

"The Goals sometimes have countdowns that show how long a Goal is valid for. Yeah, the numbers will actually change as if they're on a screen."

"Whoa. That's definitely magic," I said, exchanging cautious glances with Ryza.

"Something to look forward to," Ryza said. "Bess, Lorio mentioned we could keep these Goals private. Is that true?"

"Yeah, and that's just for the better. The Goals can sometimes get personal and uncomfortable. Some Goals specifically need you to not let people find out. Those ones were particularly brutal. I was here for the month those Goals got really involved in communal life. It got very ugly. Goals that should have been kept private were found out, and some really scary monsters got unleashed on us."

"So, that's another reason why everyone wants to respect privacy. People got their hand slapped," I noted.

"What a sadistic way of teaching a lesson about trust," Ryza followed.

"Yeah," Bess said, a downward inflection to her voice. "We're better now, though. Things have been peaceful, mostly. We haven't had anyone new in the last year. That helps keep things calm to a degree."

Ryza bumped shoulders with Bessie and grinned. "What's up, Bess? Worried trouble's going to get stirred up?"

"Yeah," she awkwardly admitted. "More than five people showing up always gets a little crazy." She breathed a sigh and wore a hopeful smile. "But maybe all the crazy got out of the system with yesterday's events. Maybe we'll be good." She let out a laugh and showed us to the stairs. "Come on, girls, let's check out some rooms. We can go grab some food from the diner later, then come back here and just chat."

"I'm going to step away now."

We all turned toward the meek Anabelle. She shrugged and smiled. "Bessie can handle this, I think... I'll just take my leave. There's a lot to do... Maybe some other people need some help around town."

"Yeah, sounds good," Bessie said. "Feel free to join us later."

I smiled at Anabelle. "If you ever want to talk, I'll be here. I'm sure we'd all like to know more about this place."

Her smile took a few seconds to form, but she replied warmly when she did. "Yeah. I want to get to know you more too."

That smile was warm, but those eyes didn't match.

...

..

.

Anabelle left, and we went on our tour. The upper floors were nicely lit, with the few windows letting light filter in. The unoccupied rooms had their doors open, too, helping the light situation. The walls were old, with Bessie's conscious efforts at decorating apparent, and the carpet was well-worn and sun-bleached.

Bessie led the way down the narrow hallway, pointing out the various rooms as they passed by. The doors hung crookedly on their hinges, and we could see that they were furnished as well as a motel would be.

I poked my head into one of the rooms as Ryza entered and walked around.

"We have a few more of these two-bedroom suites. We have one-bed suits as well, of course."

"Yeah... I think I'll take this one. Nice light, a few chairs, very nice wooden table here. Yeah, I like this one," Ryza said as she looked around.

Hari raised her hand. "May I stay with you, Miss Ryza? I'd rather not be alone."

"Sure thing, kid," Ryza said, grinning and showing a thumbs-up. "You want to room with me, Mari? We could probably drag a bed in here."

Haunting stood in the doorway. "Umm, Mari likes her space, actually--"

I pulled Haunting back and smiled at Ryza. "I would like my own room, but I want to be within seconds of everyone."

"Oh! Let me show you the room next door!" Bessie said.

The next room was humble. A single bed on a wood frame, a single round table with two chairs, a nice rug, and an equally as nice nightstand with two non-functioning lamps in the room. There was a television set--an old cathode ray tube type and the bathroom looked just like a motel's. There was a window too, which was really all I needed.

"Yeah, this'll do," I said as I walked into the room. I slipped my coat off, threw it onto the bed, and fixed my hair. "Hmm. My shoulders are stiff--"

"I'll massage them for you, Mari!" Haunting screamed, her face red.

"No thanks. Go pick your room, Haunting."

Haunting switched from distraught to determined and quickly flew to the room across from mine. "I'm taking this one, Bessie!"

"Sure," Bessie said with a giggle. "The rooms don't have hot water, so if you ever need hot water, we can boil some downstairs for everyone to use."

"Ahh. So we've got gas, huh?" Ryza asked.

"And firewood, too," Bessie followed.

As Haunting stepped into her room to check it out, Ryza stood beside me. "Hey, I'll massage your shoulders later if you massage mine, Mari."

"Deal--"

"Maaaaariiiiii!"

"Haunting, stop whining. It's embarrassing."

...

..

.

From there, we went back to the clinic, fetched Haunting's and Hari's luggage and Ryza's day bag, and then went to the diner. We greeted some of the people there, but I was too distracted by the races there. There were three other people with the cat ears and tails, and there was a pair with the reptile scales that the man from the bus, Reio, had. Otherwise, there were people of different ethnicities I recognized from my original world, before I was transported to the goddess's world.

After collecting some orders of food and greeting the lovely pair of cooks that worked at the diner, we went back to the inn and settled down on the ground floor around some candles with Bessie.

"To peaceful lives!" Bessie cheered, having poured some wine out. "Let's get out of here together!"

"To beating up monsters," Ryza said, joining in on the affirmations.

"To getting actual evidence of ghosts on my gear! Girls, honestly, feel free to join me anytime. Mari--"

"To collecting evidence," tiny Hari followed, lifting her milk.

Looking at it again... the candlelight had a real way of making everything feel homey... This wasn't so bad. I forgot how soothing spending time with good people could be.